Garland opens hate crimes investigation into stabbing death of Muslim boy in Illinois

Attorney General Merrick Garland is opening a hate crimes investigation into the killing of a 6-year-old Muslim boy in Illinois that police say was motivated by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Authorities say Wadea Al-Fayoume was stabbed 26 times throughout his body by Joseph M. Czuba, 71, who also stabbed the boy’s mother, Hanaan Shahin, a dozen times. She is now hospitalized but expected to survive, police said.

“I am heartbroken by the abhorrent killing of Wadea Al-Fayoume, a six year old child who died after being stabbed 26 times with a military-style knife. On behalf of the entire Justice Department, I want to express my deepest condolences to his family and his community as they grieve his loss,” Garland said in a statement.

Czuba, who was the landlord of the residence, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of a hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

The sheriff’s office said investigators determined the child and his mother were “targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis.”

In a news release, the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), shared text messages Shahin sent to her son’s father from the hospital, where Shahin says that the landlord “knocked on their door, and when she opened, he tried to choke her and proceeded to attack her with a knife, yelling, ‘you Muslims must die.’”

“When she ran into the bathroom to call 911, she came out to find that he had stabbed her six-year-old son to death,” CAIR-Chicago said in its news release. “’It all happened in seconds,’ she texted.”

President Biden condemned the act of violence in a statement Sunday, saying he and the first lady were “shocked and sickened” by news of the attack.

“The child’s Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seek — a refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace,” Biden said.

The investigation comes just days after FBI Director Christopher Wray warned that a rise in violent extremism could be incoming amid the ongoing fighting between Israel and Hamas.

Hamas launched its deadly attack on southern Israel more than a week ago, prompting Israel to declare war on the group. Israel has said more than 1,400 Israelis have been killed so far. At least 2,750 Palestinians have also been killed and another 9,700 wounded by pounding Israeli airstrikes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.